The Great Speckled Herb Biscuits

Mother's Day weekend I went on a baking frenzy. Friday's zucchini muffins brought back memories of Mom. Saturday's nut butter cookies and Sunday's cornmeal lemon cookies were in memory of two of my other mothers who have passed on.

And, it's only reasonable that the Mother's Day baking frenzy should segue to thoughts of my grandmothers for this weekend's baking project.

I remember (step) Grandma Harris as a devout Pentecostal lady. Like many fundamentalist women of her generation, she never, ever wore pants. She'd borne 11 children, lost one, and had been a widow many years. She was terribly proud of the fact that she could still span her waist with three hands. She loved the Roy Acuff song "The Great Speckled Bird", and she'd sing it as she went about her chores.  I don't remember her being much of a cook. 

My baby sister remembers Grandma Harris as a hottie who wore mini skirts and go-go boots. (My sister and I remember a lot of things differently.)

My maternal grandmother was also of a fundamentalist persuasion. She, too, did not wear pants. And there any resemblance to Grandma Harris ends. Granny was heavy and buxom, her waist unfindable beneath the sagging weight of glands that had fed her 7 babies. Granny never sang. But, she could make biscuits.  Granny's biscuits were a thing of joy and beauty. Tender small morsels, comprised of perfectly proportioned but unmeasured ingredients, baked in a hot iron skillet to golden perfection.

Those were some biscuits.

Great Speckled Herb Biscuits: Gluten Free

Today I made biscuits. Yet another variation off of Roben Ryberg's. This time heavily laced with herbs from my happy place, Grebar Farms. Sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and chives. Little patties of Thanksgiving in May.  I think both of my grandmothers would have liked them, in spite that new-fangled Gluten Free thing.

Great Speckled Herb Biscuits

Ingredients:

3.5 ounces grapeseed oil

Thyme, chives, rosemary, and sage

150 grams brown rice flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
5/8 tsp sea salt
1/4  tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
Freshly ground pepper
1.5  Tbsp minced fresh sage
1.5 tsp fresh thyme
1.5 tsp fresh minced rosemary
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
6.1 ounces whole goat milk
1 1/2 Tbsp organic sugar

I have no idea how much pepper I use.
About 8 to 12 grinds, maybe.

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 (f) and liberally grease a big iron skillet or a cookie sheet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together with a wire whisk.
3. Whisk in the herbs.
4. Mix wet ingredients together.
5. Mix liquid stuff into the dry stuff until well combined.
   When it's just about right, I usually hear little crackly sounds.
6. Drop the biscuits onto prepared skillet or cookie sheet, then gently shape a little with well-oiled fingers. 
7. Bake at 375 (f) for about 12-18 minutes. A toothpick will come out clean, and tops will spring back a little when pressed. 

I love weighing my ingredients.
So much less mess to clean up!

How mixed is mixed enough?
The dough will hold together and look like this.
Listen for little crackly sounds.
 



Granny always baked her biscuits in a big iron skillet.
It probably hearkened back to a time when people didn't have a variety of baking pans.
It's hard to get smooth iron nowadays. But if you can find it, it really is the best.

Pumpkin Herb Biscuits

I love Roben Ryberg's cookbooks.  I love her single flour philosophy.  I love the way she provides multiple variations on flours for her recipes, and I absolutely love that she does most things by weight. 

Every gluten-free home should own a couple of her cookbooks.

This recipe is heavily adapted from the rice flour biscuits recipe in her book "You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free!"  Her original recipe is also available online on at RobenRyberg.com.

My variation was motivated by a desire to use up some slightly iffy herbs before heading out to Grebar Farms tomorrow to get fresh ones.

Pumpkin Herb Biscuits

3.9 ounces Spectrum organic shortening
155 grams brown rice flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
About 1 Tbsp chopped mixed herbs: Sage, rosemary, thyme
1/3 to 1/2 cup canned organic pumpking, plus enough water to make 3/4 cup total
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 (f) and liberally grease a big iron skillet or a cookie sheet.
2. Mix shortening and flour together with until crumbly and lovely.
3. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and sea salt more or less evenly over the crumbly flour mixture.  Stir & fold to distribute evenly.
4. Sprinkle herbs over flour mixture and stir again to distribute evenly.
5. Mix pumpkin and water in a liquid measuring cup.  Add maple syrup and vinegar, stirring to combine.
6. Sprinkle liquid stuff over the flour stuff, then stir gently to combine.
7. Drop biscuits onto prepared skillet or cookie sheet, then gently shape a little with your fingers.
8. Bake at 375 (f) for about 12-18 minutes.
9. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

Green Pea Biscuits For St. Pat's

Alas, the green pea flour I’d ordered had not arrived yet, and I needed to make a green breakfast for The Spouse. Not that he expects, or wants, a green breakfast for St. Pat’s day – or ever. It’s just something I like to do for him.

In years past, green breakfast was easy. Just add copious amounts of green food coloring to … well… just about anything. (Green rice is lovely. Green oatmeal is kind of gross.)

But, in this brave, healthy new world of ours, green food coloring is just not appealing. (Spouse says that it never was, but that’s beside the point.)

So, green breakfast has to be naturally green, and there’s no green flour with which to make it. Luckily, I had a bag of frozen peas on hand, and some frozen chopped spinach. And, I had some gluten free Bisquick a dear friend had sent me.

Reading the ingredients on the Bisquick, the only thing that is expressly forbidden to us is the white processed sugar. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, and a little sugar once a year won't kill him.

So, I started with the basic biscuit recipe from the box, but at 2/3 quantity.  Substituted blenderized peas for some of the milk. Added some shredded white cheddar for flavor and for extra binding ability.   Drained chopped spinach for a little green-on-green effect.

Oops on the liquid. 2/3 of 2/3 is not ... 2/3. The batter was a bit wet and sticky. And, sampling the batter, it was just to pea-ey. Blech.

The second problem was easy to fix: Just add a bunch of dry chopped onion, dry garlic, and ground pepper.  Alas, the dry onion didn't soak up too much of the liquid, so I had to squish in some extra bisquick. 

The green-on-green sure did turn out pretty, even when baked. But, the real question is, would they elicit the official St. Pat's Day Look of Dread on The Spouse's face? Er, I mean, the real question is, would they taste good?

Lucky for me, the answer to both questions was a resounding "Yes!"

Green Pea Biscuits

1 1/3 C Gluten-free Bisquick

1/4 C butter or shortening

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 C whirled peas – or a little more

1/3 C almond milk, soy milk, or dairy milk.

About 1/2 C thawed frozen chopped spinach

1 C shredded white cheddar cheese

Dehydrated chopped onion, garlic granules, and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 (F) and lightly grease 2 cookie sheets or iron skillets.
2. Prepare the peas by heating about ½ bag of frozen peas in water until they’re thawed, but not cooked. Drain and whirl in the blender. Measure about 1/3 C or a little more into a glass measuring cup.
3. Add enough almond milk to bring the level up to 2/3 C.
4. Cut the butter or shortening into the GF Bisquick.
5. Add the pea mixture and eggs into the Bisquick mixture and stir in.
6. Add the cheese and the seasonings, and mix well.
7. If the dough seems a little to soft and sticky, mix a little more Bisquick in. (Use your hands.)
8. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet. You can gently smooth the biscuits with your fingers, or just leave them rough.
9. Bake about 13 to 17 minutes, until bottoms are brown and tops/sides are just beginning to brown.
10. Enjoy plain or with butter.

Note: Even if you can eat gluten, I'd stick with the GF Bisquick.  All the mixing in this recipe would make gluteney biscuits tough.  But, GF flours stay nice and fluffy and light.